University of Minnesota Athletics
Wednesday, August 31
Austin, TX
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Texas
Players Mentioned
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Opposite
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
Outside
/ Volleyball
No. 4 Gophers Battle No. 1 Texas in Primetime Matchup
8/30/2022 4:18:00 PM | Volleyball
Minnesota is coming off a 2-0 weekend at TCU
AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 4 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) travel south this week for a marquee matchup against the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) in Austin, Texas. Both teams blend several returning starters with impact newcomers that have each set to compete at high levels nationally in 2022. The Gophers and Longhorns finished seventh and fifth, respectively, in the final 2021 AVCA poll after making the regional final.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 4 Minnesota at No. 1 Texas | 7 p.m. CT | Longhorn Network (ESPN+)
Wednesday, Aug. 31
Gregory Gymnasium
Austin, Texas
Play-By-Play: Alex Loeb
Color Analyst: Nicole Branagh
NUMBERS TO KNOW:
257 -- Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon holds a 257-65 (.800) collegiate coaching record and has led Minnesota to two Big Ten Championships, three Final Fours, nine trips to the Sweet 16 and five to the Elite Eight. He joins Mike Hebert (1996-2011; 381-136 (.737)) and Stephanie Schleuder (1982-1994; 263-173 (.603)) as the third coach in Minnesota history to win 250 matches. Hebert also led the 'U' to three Final Fours.
41 -- The Gophers are 41-10 all-time in season-opening games, including a 9-2 record under coach McCucheon. The 'U' defeated No. 16 Baylor in this year's opener.
26 -- The 2021 season marked the 26th year the Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has also advanced to the tournament in seven-straight seasons and nine of 10 seasons under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
19 -- Of Minnesota's 31 scheduled games are against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of those matches are against teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 or further.
16 -- 16 of the Gophers' 31 games are versus teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25. Seven of those matches are against teams that finished in the top-10.
5 -- Minnesota is 5-6 all-time against Texas. The Longhorns have taken the last two matchups in the series. Minnesota last won in Austin in 2017.
4 -- The Gophers are 4-23 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams. Under coach McCutcheon, they are 4-7. Minnesota fell in four sets to then No. 1 Texas last year at the Pav. Its last win over a No. 1 team was in 2019 against Stanford.
LAST TIME OUT
• Minnesota began its 2022 season with a four-set win over No. 16 Baylor. After dropping the first set, 23-25, the then No. 5 ranked Golden Gophers stormed back, winning the next three sets, 25-16, 25-23, 25-17, to take the match. Minnesota was led by junior outside Jenna Wenaas, who tallied a team-best 17 kills in her first collegiate match back in her home state of Texas. Taylor Landfair added 15 kills and six digs while freshman Carter Booth added six kills and a team-best 11 blocks in her Minnesota debut.
• The Gophers followed that up with a convincing sweep of host TCU, 25-17, 25-20, 25-18, to capture the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge crown. Wisconsin and Baylor both went 1-1 while TCU went 0-2. Outside Taylor Landfair posted 15 kills and eight digs while Jenna Wenaas added on seven kills, four digs and two blocks while Carter Booth also chipped in seven kills and a pair of blocks.
• Landfair was named tournament MVP while Melani Shaffmaster earned best setter and Booth was named best defender. Wenaas also joined them on the all-tournament team.
SCOUTING TEXAS
• The Longhorns are led by 22nd-year head coach Jerritt Elliott, who ranks No. 1 in school history with 535 wins at Texas. He led UT to the 2012 national championship and has had the program in the national title game five times during his career.
• Texas is once again loaded with talent in 2022. They're led by outside Logan Eggleston, a fifth-year senior who was recognized as the 2021 VolleyballMag.com National Player of the Year. She was selected as the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season and was joined by Asjia O'Neal, Zoe Fleck and Madisen Skinner on the preseason All-Big 12 team. The Longhorns were picked first in the Big 12 Preseason Poll for the 12th consecutive season and the 15th time in program history.
• UT has won 10 of the last 11 Big 12 championships, and a big part of that has been its ability to control the home court. Over the last 11 seasons, Texas has produced a 161-11 (.936) record in home matches, including a 59-game winning streak in conference play. The Longhorns opened their season with two straight wins at No. 7 Ohio State.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VERSUS TEXAS
• Minnesota is 5-6 all-time against the Longhorns. UT broke the tie last year with a four-set win over the 'U' in Minneapolis. Minnesota led 23-17 in set one before a furious comeback allowed the Longhorns to claw back and take a 26-24 win. After dropping set two, the Gophers answered back in set three, but it proved to be too big of a hill to climb as the visitors took set four and the win.
• Then fifth-year opposite Stephanie Samedy finished with 21 kills and 19 digs while Taylor Landfair and Jenna Wenaas both notched 11 kills apiece. CC McGraw had a game-high 24 digs.
• Last Meeting: 2019; First Meeting: 1981
• They last played in Austin in 2019 and UT came away with a three-set win (22-25, 27-29, 33-35).
• Minnesota won the meeting before that, a four set win in Austin on Sept. 8, 2017.
• Perhaps the biggest matchup between the two teams came in the 2015 Final Four as Texas won in four sets.
MINNESOTA AGAINST NO. 1 RANKED TEAMS
• Under coach McCutcheon, Minnesota is 4-7 against No. 1 ranked teams. The Gophers have won two of their last four and three of their last six against No. 1 teams, however.
• Minnesota's last win against a No. 1 ranked team was on Sept. 14, 2019 against Stanford, a 3-1 win.
• The Gophers last home win against a No. 1 team was Nov. 23, 2016, a five-set victory over Nebraska.
• All-time, Minnesota is 4-23 against No. 1 ranked teams.
MCGRAW MOVES HER WAY UP RECORD BOOKS
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Gophers history with 1,572 digs. Heading into her final season, CC is 428 digs away from becoming just the 10th player in B1G Volleyball history to reach 2,000 in her career.
• In three of her four seasons, McGraw has made Minnesota's top-20 list for most digs in the season. In 2018, she had 428 (18th), 450 (16th) in 2019 and a career-best 510 in 2021 (12th). She's the second Gopher to have three-or-more seasons with 400-or-more digs.
MCGRAW AND WENAAS NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM
• CC McGraw and Jenna Wenaas both landed a spot on the Preseason All-Big Ten team, It is both McGraw and Wenaas' first preseason nod. Minnesota was tabbed to finish third in the league standings. The Gophers have finished third-or-better in each of the past seven seasons and in nine of coach McCutcheon's 10 seasons at the helm.
SHAFFMASTER NAMED BIG TEN SETTER OF THE WEEK
• The New Castle, Ind., native was named to Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament Team after leading all setters with 10.57 assists per set (74 assists in two matches).She tallied four kills, 44 assists, nine digs and six blocks in a win over No. 16 Baylor.
• Shaffmaster followed that up with four kills, 30 assists, two aces and three digs in a sweep of TCU. It's the third time in her career she's earned the award, and first time since the spring of 2021.
BOOTH BLOCKS OUT THE NOISE IN HER COLLEGIATE DEBUT
• The No. 14 overall recruit in the class of 2022, 6-foot-7 freshman middle blocker Carter Booth came to Minnesota with some significant hype. She delivered in a big way on opening weekend, combining for 13 kills and 13 blocks while starting in both matches.
• Booth set a Minnesota freshman record with 11 blocks in her first game, a four-set win over then No. 16 Baylor. The school record is 2014, set by Regan Pittman in 2019.
• Booth's father, Calvin, played college basketball for Penn State and then in the NBA for a decade. He now works in the front office of the Denver Nuggets.
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
• Minnesota junior outside Jenna Wenaas is a Frisco, Texas native. The 2021 Second Team All-Big Ten selection is thrilled to be playing in her home again for the first time in her collegiate career. She had over 30 family and friends in attendance for the Gophers games in Fort Worth.
• Wenaas was named to the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament team after going for 17 kills (team-high) and three blocks against Baylor and seven kills, four digs and two blocks in a sweep of TCU.
• Perhaps Minnesota's best all-around player, Wenaas is averaging 3.93 kills, 1.13 digs and 0.71 blocks per set through the first two games.
LANDFAIR LIFTING GOPHERS SPIRITS
• The No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020, Taylor Landfair had an excellent true freshman season in the spring of 2021. She ranked second on the Gophers in kills per set and made First Team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America honorable mention.
• Last fall wasn't quite as fun for Landfair as she sat out most of the year (played just nine games) with an abdominal injury.
• She's back and better than ever in 2022, leading the 'U' in kills with 4.71 per set so far this year. She's also averaging 2.00 digs per set, playing all six rotations. Landfair was named MVP of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge after leading all players in points and kills.
GOPHERS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is a superb 102-21 (.830) in non-conference competition.
• Of their 19 nonconference losses, six have come to Stanford (3-6) and four have come to Texas (1-4).
• Minnesota has played ranked non-conference opponents in all 11 seasons under coach McCutcheon.
SCHEDULE NOTES:
• Matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 16
• Matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-10: 7
• Home matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 8
• Road/Neutral matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 8
• Matches against 2021 NCAA Tournament Teams: 19
• Matches against 2021 Sweet 16 Teams: 12
• Seven of Minnesota's eight non-conference matchups are vs. 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of 20 conference games are against tournament teams.
Follow along with the Gophers this season on Twitter (@GopherVBall), Instagram and TikTok (@gophervball).
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 4 Minnesota at No. 1 Texas | 7 p.m. CT | Longhorn Network (ESPN+)
Wednesday, Aug. 31
Gregory Gymnasium
Austin, Texas
Play-By-Play: Alex Loeb
Color Analyst: Nicole Branagh
NUMBERS TO KNOW:
257 -- Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon holds a 257-65 (.800) collegiate coaching record and has led Minnesota to two Big Ten Championships, three Final Fours, nine trips to the Sweet 16 and five to the Elite Eight. He joins Mike Hebert (1996-2011; 381-136 (.737)) and Stephanie Schleuder (1982-1994; 263-173 (.603)) as the third coach in Minnesota history to win 250 matches. Hebert also led the 'U' to three Final Fours.
41 -- The Gophers are 41-10 all-time in season-opening games, including a 9-2 record under coach McCucheon. The 'U' defeated No. 16 Baylor in this year's opener.
26 -- The 2021 season marked the 26th year the Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has also advanced to the tournament in seven-straight seasons and nine of 10 seasons under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
19 -- Of Minnesota's 31 scheduled games are against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of those matches are against teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 or further.
16 -- 16 of the Gophers' 31 games are versus teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25. Seven of those matches are against teams that finished in the top-10.
5 -- Minnesota is 5-6 all-time against Texas. The Longhorns have taken the last two matchups in the series. Minnesota last won in Austin in 2017.
4 -- The Gophers are 4-23 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams. Under coach McCutcheon, they are 4-7. Minnesota fell in four sets to then No. 1 Texas last year at the Pav. Its last win over a No. 1 team was in 2019 against Stanford.
LAST TIME OUT
• Minnesota began its 2022 season with a four-set win over No. 16 Baylor. After dropping the first set, 23-25, the then No. 5 ranked Golden Gophers stormed back, winning the next three sets, 25-16, 25-23, 25-17, to take the match. Minnesota was led by junior outside Jenna Wenaas, who tallied a team-best 17 kills in her first collegiate match back in her home state of Texas. Taylor Landfair added 15 kills and six digs while freshman Carter Booth added six kills and a team-best 11 blocks in her Minnesota debut.
• The Gophers followed that up with a convincing sweep of host TCU, 25-17, 25-20, 25-18, to capture the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge crown. Wisconsin and Baylor both went 1-1 while TCU went 0-2. Outside Taylor Landfair posted 15 kills and eight digs while Jenna Wenaas added on seven kills, four digs and two blocks while Carter Booth also chipped in seven kills and a pair of blocks.
• Landfair was named tournament MVP while Melani Shaffmaster earned best setter and Booth was named best defender. Wenaas also joined them on the all-tournament team.
SCOUTING TEXAS
• The Longhorns are led by 22nd-year head coach Jerritt Elliott, who ranks No. 1 in school history with 535 wins at Texas. He led UT to the 2012 national championship and has had the program in the national title game five times during his career.
• Texas is once again loaded with talent in 2022. They're led by outside Logan Eggleston, a fifth-year senior who was recognized as the 2021 VolleyballMag.com National Player of the Year. She was selected as the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season and was joined by Asjia O'Neal, Zoe Fleck and Madisen Skinner on the preseason All-Big 12 team. The Longhorns were picked first in the Big 12 Preseason Poll for the 12th consecutive season and the 15th time in program history.
• UT has won 10 of the last 11 Big 12 championships, and a big part of that has been its ability to control the home court. Over the last 11 seasons, Texas has produced a 161-11 (.936) record in home matches, including a 59-game winning streak in conference play. The Longhorns opened their season with two straight wins at No. 7 Ohio State.
MINNESOTA'S HISTORY VERSUS TEXAS
• Minnesota is 5-6 all-time against the Longhorns. UT broke the tie last year with a four-set win over the 'U' in Minneapolis. Minnesota led 23-17 in set one before a furious comeback allowed the Longhorns to claw back and take a 26-24 win. After dropping set two, the Gophers answered back in set three, but it proved to be too big of a hill to climb as the visitors took set four and the win.
• Then fifth-year opposite Stephanie Samedy finished with 21 kills and 19 digs while Taylor Landfair and Jenna Wenaas both notched 11 kills apiece. CC McGraw had a game-high 24 digs.
• Last Meeting: 2019; First Meeting: 1981
• They last played in Austin in 2019 and UT came away with a three-set win (22-25, 27-29, 33-35).
• Minnesota won the meeting before that, a four set win in Austin on Sept. 8, 2017.
• Perhaps the biggest matchup between the two teams came in the 2015 Final Four as Texas won in four sets.
MINNESOTA AGAINST NO. 1 RANKED TEAMS
• Under coach McCutcheon, Minnesota is 4-7 against No. 1 ranked teams. The Gophers have won two of their last four and three of their last six against No. 1 teams, however.
• Minnesota's last win against a No. 1 ranked team was on Sept. 14, 2019 against Stanford, a 3-1 win.
• The Gophers last home win against a No. 1 team was Nov. 23, 2016, a five-set victory over Nebraska.
• All-time, Minnesota is 4-23 against No. 1 ranked teams.
MCGRAW MOVES HER WAY UP RECORD BOOKS
• CC McGraw ranks No. 5 in Gophers history with 1,572 digs. Heading into her final season, CC is 428 digs away from becoming just the 10th player in B1G Volleyball history to reach 2,000 in her career.
• In three of her four seasons, McGraw has made Minnesota's top-20 list for most digs in the season. In 2018, she had 428 (18th), 450 (16th) in 2019 and a career-best 510 in 2021 (12th). She's the second Gopher to have three-or-more seasons with 400-or-more digs.
MCGRAW AND WENAAS NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN TEAM
• CC McGraw and Jenna Wenaas both landed a spot on the Preseason All-Big Ten team, It is both McGraw and Wenaas' first preseason nod. Minnesota was tabbed to finish third in the league standings. The Gophers have finished third-or-better in each of the past seven seasons and in nine of coach McCutcheon's 10 seasons at the helm.
SHAFFMASTER NAMED BIG TEN SETTER OF THE WEEK
• The New Castle, Ind., native was named to Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament Team after leading all setters with 10.57 assists per set (74 assists in two matches).She tallied four kills, 44 assists, nine digs and six blocks in a win over No. 16 Baylor.
• Shaffmaster followed that up with four kills, 30 assists, two aces and three digs in a sweep of TCU. It's the third time in her career she's earned the award, and first time since the spring of 2021.
BOOTH BLOCKS OUT THE NOISE IN HER COLLEGIATE DEBUT
• The No. 14 overall recruit in the class of 2022, 6-foot-7 freshman middle blocker Carter Booth came to Minnesota with some significant hype. She delivered in a big way on opening weekend, combining for 13 kills and 13 blocks while starting in both matches.
• Booth set a Minnesota freshman record with 11 blocks in her first game, a four-set win over then No. 16 Baylor. The school record is 2014, set by Regan Pittman in 2019.
• Booth's father, Calvin, played college basketball for Penn State and then in the NBA for a decade. He now works in the front office of the Denver Nuggets.
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
• Minnesota junior outside Jenna Wenaas is a Frisco, Texas native. The 2021 Second Team All-Big Ten selection is thrilled to be playing in her home again for the first time in her collegiate career. She had over 30 family and friends in attendance for the Gophers games in Fort Worth.
• Wenaas was named to the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge All-Tournament team after going for 17 kills (team-high) and three blocks against Baylor and seven kills, four digs and two blocks in a sweep of TCU.
• Perhaps Minnesota's best all-around player, Wenaas is averaging 3.93 kills, 1.13 digs and 0.71 blocks per set through the first two games.
LANDFAIR LIFTING GOPHERS SPIRITS
• The No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020, Taylor Landfair had an excellent true freshman season in the spring of 2021. She ranked second on the Gophers in kills per set and made First Team All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America honorable mention.
• Last fall wasn't quite as fun for Landfair as she sat out most of the year (played just nine games) with an abdominal injury.
• She's back and better than ever in 2022, leading the 'U' in kills with 4.71 per set so far this year. She's also averaging 2.00 digs per set, playing all six rotations. Landfair was named MVP of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge after leading all players in points and kills.
GOPHERS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is a superb 102-21 (.830) in non-conference competition.
• Of their 19 nonconference losses, six have come to Stanford (3-6) and four have come to Texas (1-4).
• Minnesota has played ranked non-conference opponents in all 11 seasons under coach McCutcheon.
SCHEDULE NOTES:
• Matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 16
• Matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-10: 7
• Home matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 8
• Road/Neutral matches against teams that finished in the AVCA Top-25: 8
• Matches against 2021 NCAA Tournament Teams: 19
• Matches against 2021 Sweet 16 Teams: 12
• Seven of Minnesota's eight non-conference matchups are vs. 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of 20 conference games are against tournament teams.
Follow along with the Gophers this season on Twitter (@GopherVBall), Instagram and TikTok (@gophervball).
Highlights: Gophers 3, Washington 1
Saturday, October 18
Highlights: Gophers 1, Oregon 3
Friday, October 17
Gopher Round Table: Gopher Volleyball
Friday, October 17
Coming Home: Alexis Hart
Wednesday, October 15